Of paid links debate
Earlier tonight I left a comment on Sphinn, “This is all becoming borderline Sisyphean,” regarding the debate that has permeated the SEO crowd. I’ve looked for uproar beyond the professional search engine manipulation machine and just cannot find any. Anyway I find the whole fiasco quite humorous to witness. I have opinions on the matter, but none that are going to make a difference.
Avoiding the obvious wiki reference I found this definition to help clarify my position:
Of or relating to an endless and ineffective task.
This one comes straight out of Greek myth. Sisyphus was a king of Corinth, a son of Aeolus (the ruler of the winds, hence our word aeolian for something produced by or borne on the wind). In later legend he was the father of Odysseus or Ulysses. His name actually meant “crafty” in Greek: he was noted for his deception and he’s the equivalent in Greek folklore of the master trickster who turns up in many folk beliefs, such as Coyote in American Indian mythology. He even managed to cheat Death the first time around, surviving the experience to live to a ripe old age. In Greek legend Sisyphus was punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned eternally to roll a heavy stone up a hill. As he neared the top, the stone rolled down again, so that his labor was everlasting and futile. The word first appeared in English in the middle of the seventeenth century. It isn’t used much these days because so few people understand the reference to classical literature.
The parallels that one can draw from that story are uncanny. It also answers the question, beyond the obvious “not to help the spammers angle” why Google doesn’t notify everyone of their penalties, their cause, their existence, nor their cure. The announcements of paid links have accomplished the same task, paralyzing the community in an endless and ineffective task of one-sided debate.
If you liked this post please buy me a beer. Thanks.
On December 11th, 2007, gb said:
